The present invention relates to iron type golf clubs and in particular to iron type golf club heads having improved vibration and shock reduction structures and increased club head stability and control.
Conventional golf club heads such as iron, metal woods and putters come in various shapes and sizes. There has been a trend in the golf club industry to provide larger golf club heads. However, not much has been done to provide additional meaningful mass in the larger cavities particularly at the rear of the club heads to overcome problems of shock and vibration and to increase stability. To keep the overall club head weights at an acceptable level, there are limits on the size of the larger club heads. Consequently, oversized club heads are made lacking an optimum placement of additional mass behind the club face which creates many problems when a golf ball is struck. This causes serious stabilizing problems and loss of club head control as well as creating an increase in vibration and shock waves which occur when a golf ball is struck. This problem becomes even more pronounced when a golf ball is struck off of the center of percussion, which causes increase club head twisting and torquing.
In recognition of these problems, golf clubs have been made using shock and vibration reducing materials added to the rear cavities on the back of the club heads. These materials include visco-elastic and elastomeric type materials. However, these materials appear to have a limited effect in suppressing vibration and shocks when ball contact is made. In addition, these materials have other draw backs in that they often become dislodged or damaged as a result of the substantial shock which occurs to the club head due to the impact of the ball and also from hitting other clubs in the golfer's bags.
The use of various weight configurations on the back surface of a golf club has been known in the prior art. For example, see the patent to Windquist, U.S. Pat. No. 3,814,437, as well as my own U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,826,172, 4,915,386, 4,919,430, 4,919,431, 4,932,658, 5,014,993, and 5,328,184.